災害の代表団 Shimei no Saiyaku
by tikinottyki
Summary: Psych. After falling asleep during a meeting and being convicted of flirting with Lenalee, Allen and Lavi have been awkwardly punished by Komui himself in order to repent for their evil deeds and keep their focus from his sister. How cruel did it become?
1. Humiliation

_'Alo! tikinottyki here! Well, I was going through all my stories and realized how crappy of a speller I am, so I went through and edited everything so that they would make sense! Yay! So, here's my D-Gray Man story, REVAMPED!_

"Oi, are you even listening? Lavi, wake up!"

I was startled awake by Lenalee lightly tapping a rolled up newspaper against my forehead. My one visible eye opened rather lazily and scanned over to look to my friend. "Huh?"

Lenalee narrowed her dark eyes. "You know better than to fall asleep in a meeting," she scolded lightly.

Raising my head off my arm, I looked around to see the other Exorcists seated quietly, all gazing to the front. Apparently, Komui was giving a big speech much ado about nothing… again. "Is this really necessary? He's telling us the same load of crap over and over again," I stated groggily as I sat up straight.

My friend shook her head. "I know, but it's better to endure rather than sleep and miss something important."

"… I'd rather sleep…"

Looking over to my left, I saw Allen sitting back in his chair with arms crossed and chin resting on his chest; he was fast asleep. "Psst, why do you shake me awake and not Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes over there? He's sleeping like a log!" I asked with a scowl.

"He at least looks like he's concentrating and not slumping out of his chair," was the reply.

"That's a load of b.s."

"Lavi!"

All eyes turned to me as Komui's voice went quiet. The man himself was glaring at me from behind his glasses, a look we all knew too well. "You aren't flirting with my precious Lenalee, are you?" Komui asked.

My brow furrowed. "What? Man, you've gotta be on something to even ask me that!" I retaliated.

"Answer. The. Question."

"No."

Komui's brow cocked. "No, you're not going to answer the question?"

"No, I'm not flirting with Lenalee."

"So, you're avoiding the second question?"

"Who the hell said I was avoiding it?!"

"You never answered."

"Hell yeah, I did!"

Komui snickered as he lowered his head. "Lavi-san, don't make me get the new model out here…" he warned in a low tone.

I blinked in confusion. "New… model?"

"Another one of his machines he's been working on to help us out in the lab," a scientist whispered lightly. "The director completed it last week."

Grinning back to the elder Lee, I patted my Innocence, a small hammer strapped to my leg. "That ain't much of a threat, Komui-san," I said with a smirk.

An eyebrow twitched as the man on stage grinned widely. "Then let the games begin." From within his coat pocket, he pulled out a remote control with a single red button. "Go! Kom-guh!"

"Nii-san, now is not the time for this!" I heard Lenalee yell; I didn't even notice that she had jumped from her seat and delivered her brother a swift kick to the face.

"L-lenaaleeeeee..." the director whined while picking himself up off the floor.

And that was how my day pretty much started. Komui never stopped breathing down my neck since then, and half the day had gone by already. Whenever I was with Lenalee (even with Allen, Krowry, or Kanda with us) he would glare at me with cold eyes. It was almost as if he was up to something... something to make me regret Lenalee and the thought of ever flirting with her again.

It was about two when I received the message to report to Komui. I looked up to Krowry with half a sandwich in my mouth. "Does he really need me now? I just sat down to eat," I complained.

Krowry shrugged, saying, "He didn't say much... something about another mission."

With a sigh, I pushed away my full plate of food and stood. "Fine... what could that bastard want now?" I muttered as I prepared to leave the cafeteria.

"Lavi."

I turned to see Krowry grimace. "Wha?"

"Be careful. The director had an evil grin as I walked out," my vampire friend warned.

"It's fine; what could that wimp of a guy possible do to me?"

Still, I kept Krowry's words in the back of my mind. Passing by the many labs and offices, hallways and dorm lounges, I got to Komui's mess of an office; the pile of papers seemed to be piling up rather than going down. The man himself was seated at his desk, his hands folded neatly before his face.

"You wanted to see me, Komui-san?"

"Actually, yes," was the reply. "Despite the humiliation you bestowed upon me at the meeting earlier, I decided to assign you an important mission. A large amount of akuma seem to have congregated over a certain region in Ireland."

I shrugged. "Do you think they just wanted to go to the Saint Patty's Parade and get cold drunk?" I asked sarcastically.

A pen flew by my head, sticking into the wall. "Sarcasm won't get you anywhere!" Komui fumed.

I let out a sigh, rolling my eyes and thrusting my hands behind my head. "So, will I have a partner or what?"

"You're not going with Lenalee!!"

My eyes widened. "I never suggested that in the first place!"

With a malicious smile spreading on his face, Komui tapped his forehead and said, "You were thinkin' it."

A soft voice interrupted the beginning of a possibly deadly argument, causing both me and Komui to turn our heads. "Ano... Komui-san, are you sure this is really okay?"

Standing at the doorway was the most adorable, cutest girl I had ever seen. She wore black boots with a sharp heel laced up to mid-calf, and the black and white Lolita dress she wore made her look like a little princess. Long, wavy white hair had been pulled up into pigtails and wide blue eyes stared back at us.

"Here's your partner," I heard the director say behind me, a hint of humor in his voice. ""I'm sure you two will get along quite well."

_Wait, so I was going on a mission with her? The cutest girl I had EVER seen in my life?! This was like a dream come true!_

"STRIKE!"

The girl's eyes widened. "L-lavi! No, don't!" she yelled.

I picked her up around the waist and twirled her around several times, hearts in my eyes and love on the brain. "You're my new partner?! I can't believe this! You're really cute, you know that? Hey, during the mission, wanna go grab dinner or something? You are old enough to drink, right?"

"Lavi! Put me down; it's me!"

Pausing to set her down, I stared hard into her face. "I don't know you, but the makeup must be in the way," I said after a while.

"It's me, Lavi. Allen."

Then she wiped off the makeup over her left eye, revealing the red scar and pentagram. I stood speechless for a long while, stuck in an awkward silence. "A-ALLEN?!?! What the hell are you doing in a dress?! I thought you were a girl!!" I shouted.

"It was the director's idea! He said I needed to go under cover or something! I didn't want to wear this thing, but he was going to black mail me if I didn't!" Allen shouted back hysterically.

I glared at Komui, who let out an uproarious laugh. "But Allen-kun, you look so cute in that! Maybe you should cross-play more often," the director said.

"Hell no I won't!" Allen objected while he attempted to yank the extensions from his natural hair. "These... did you super glue these on?!"

Roughly taking the director by his collar, I said, "I don't know what you're getting at, but it sure as hell ain't funny."

Komui grinned. "It's funny for me, but a punishment for the both of you."

Allen and I went silent, our faces both blank with confusion. "Punishment?" Allen repeated.

The director nodded. "That's right. Punishment for you falling asleep during my speech, and you for flirting with Lenalee in my presence," he replied.

My grip tightened around his collar. "So that's what this prank is about?! You made Allen get all dolled up in a dress so I'd go for him instead of Lenalee! Director, you're sick!" I yelled in his face.

Komui sighed innocently. "Well, be glad it's Allen-kun. I had originally asked Kanda-kun, but, well, things didn't go so well..."

_(Flash back, about three hours ago during Lunch Break)_

"Kanda-kun! Would you be a dear and do a favor for your lovely director?"

Kanda looked up from his meal, glaring at Komui. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me 'Kanda-kun'?"

Komui bounced back and forth on his feet, unable to contain his excitement. "I need your help in punishing Lavi," he said enthusiastically.

The teenager furrowed his brow. "How so?" he asked cautiously.

With a wide grin, Komui pulled a black and white fringe Lolita dress from behind his back. "You wear this!"

"I refuse."

"Wha-? Come on, I need your help here!"

"Ask that beansprout Walker; there's no way in hell I'm wearing that thing."

"But Kanda-kun, you're the only one that already looks like a girl!"

Kanda froze, his icy glare fixed on the director; his hand rested on the hilt of his katana, Mugen. "You call me 'Kanda-kun' or refer to me as a girl again, I'll make sure your pathetic self is erased from the face of the earth. Got it?"

_(Present time)_

"Kanda-kun is so scary!" Komui whined as he slunk against his desk and shook his head back and forth.

Allen wrinkled his brow and puckered out his bottom lip. "You asked... Kanda?"

"Why the hell would you do that? That's just... awkward," I said. The images that ran through my mind sent chills down my spine. They were horrifying.

The director's terrified stance changed as he stood up straighter and chuckled. "I had the science team design the dress; unless you know the password, the dress itself won't come off."

I raised my brow. "Huh? How did they manage to do that?"

Komui shrugged. "I don't know, but they did. So either you go on the mission with it on and then come back to have it removed, or you can remove it now; however, your uniform has been confiscated and locked away."

Allen sighed. "So it's either wear the dress or nothing at all?"

"Precisely."

I nudged Allen in the side, saying, "Hey, at least you look somewhat cute this way... as awkward as it is."

"Lavi, you're not helping me any."

Komui waved his hand at us, beckoning for us to leave. "Now, go on! There's a mission for you to go on. Oh, Allen, before I forget, you need this as well." Here, he handed Allen a blue and white umbrella; frilly laces lined the rim and a few small bows decorated the top.

Allen's face contorted in embarrassment and disgust. "What?! What the hell are you trying to do to me?!"

"All or nothing, Allen. All or nothing."

"... fine," Allen grumbled as he snatched the umbrella from the director. "Let's go, Lavi."

I followed an annoyed Allen from the office and down the hall. Anyone we passed by stared blankly at us, whispering amongst themselves. At one point, we passed Lenalee as she made her way to the dining hall for dinner. She blinked twice at the sight of me and Allen. "Allen-kun, is that you?" she asked.

"Don't ask," Allen replied in return.

"Your brother is punishing us for falling asleep at the meeting. He's having Allen cross dress while trying to turn me gay," I said in Allen's stead.

Lenalee sighed and shook her head. "Nii-san," she muttered. Then she noticed Allen's heeled boots. "Allen! How are you able to walk in those things? I couldn't wear those!"

I looked down to Allen's feet and nearly hacked up a lung. "Jeeze, Allen, those are frickin' five inches! How are you managing?"

"I'm not," my friend replied. "I already sprained my ankle and have a blister coming up on my heel. I had to push in wooden supports to keep my ankles from wobbling."

Leaning down, I whispered, "Even with three inch heels, I'm still taller than you."

I watched out of the corner of my eye Lenalee biting her bottom lip. "Allen, just be careful, okay? Now that you look like a girl, you'll have so many creepers try to come at you. And with those heels, you won't be able to run away. Trust me with this, okay?"

Allen smiled weakly. "Don't worry. I'll be fine," he said reassuringly.

I looked to the clock hanging on the wall ahead of us and sighed. "Come on, Princess. We have a mission to do and we won't be able to get you out of that thing until we complete it," I stated as I took hold of his arm and pulled him away.

"Lavi, slow down! I can't keep up! LAVI!"


	2. The Missing

Sigh. "I can't believe the director did this to us..."

Allen let out a similar sigh. "Yeah, me worse than you. At least you didn't get forced to wear a dress."

I looked down to him, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, that wouldn't look good on me... You pull it off much better than I would," I said, realizing only seconds later I shouldn't have said it.

The icy glare stared hard into my green eyes, a look that Allen only gave to the Noah clan or to the Earl... or to Yu in moments of great annoyance. "What are you trying to say, Lavi? That I'm some kinda girl?" he asked in a low tone.

"No, I didn't mean it like that! It's just..."

"Lavi, you're digging a bigger hole for yourself..."

The townspeople around us all stopped to stare at out little argument. A few even added extra comments or advice for us, the 'quarrelling couple' as they called us. "Oh, little lady, are you going to take that kind of ignorance from him? Put that umbrella to good use and give him a good whack on the head," one elderly woman said.

A man in his thirty's nudged me in the side. "I can't believe you're letting a girl beat you up like this. Be a man."

One guy, who looked about my age, leaned down to Allen, raising my friend's head up slightly towards his. "You know, little missy," he began, "if that guy gives you any more crap, I'll be glad to comfort you a little. Whadya say?"

I saw the pink hue rise in Allen's cheeks. "No, it's not like that at all," he stuttered. "We're not really a couple; you see, I'm a gu-"

Before he could finish his sentence, I quickly clapped my hand over his mouth and pulled my friend away from the pedophile. "We're just rehearsing for a school play, that's all! Nothing of importance, so we don't need any advice or comforting. Isn't that right, Alana?"

Allen's brow furrowed as he replied, "I'm not Alana."

That's when I elbowed him in the ribs to silence him, as cruel as it was. "Dude, you're giving away our whole disguise thing! Keep quiet or else we'll get in more trouble!" I hissed before lifting him over my shoulder and carrying him away, all kickin' and hollerin'. I didn't even look back to see the stares we were getting; at this point, I didn't even give a shit.

Once we had disappeared into an abandoned alley, away from the stares and comments of the townspeople, I set Allen on his feet and sighed. "God, that was close..." I whispered to myself.

Allen crossed his arms over the bodice of the dress and looked away. "I'm never gonna get over this... how did you come up with the name 'Alana' anyway?"

I shrugged. "It was a spur of the moment thing," I replied unconvincingly.

"This is ridiculous. How does Komui-san believe we can remain undercover if we already stand out? No one in the town wears Lolita."

"The demons won't know the difference; they'll come after us regardless," I stated.

Allen scowled. "I'm gonna kill the director for sending us on a pointless mission..."

"Amen to that. Though, have you noticed there ain't a single demon in the town?"

"We just got here."

"I know that, but you know the feeling you get when there are demons around?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I haven't gotten that feeling yet. It's a bit strange," I muttered.

Allen's brows rose. "You think the director sent us out on a wild goose chase?" he asked.

"I'm beginning to think that way."

With a grumble, Allen looked down to the dress, a grimace on his face. "Then there's no need for a disguise. I need to get this thing off."

My brow wrinkled. "Don't we need some kinda password for that thing?" I asked. "How those science nerds came up with that dress, I'll never know."

"There's a clasp on the back," Allen stated as he reached back for the object. "I think that's the key or something."

I looked to where he pointed; there, with a rectangular design and shape, was the metal clasp. On it were seven slots for a password. "Dang... it's almost like a chastity belt, but for a dress. How the hell did those bastards make this thing?" Then I furrowed my brow. "We need to think of a seven letter word to get this thing off you. Can you think of anything?"

Allen crossed his arms in deep concentration. "It has to be something only Komui-san can think of. I would say coffee, but that's only six letters," he said with a sigh.

Patting my friend on the shoulder, I said, "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we can get this thing off before we need to head back."

"We'd better..."

We checked into a hotel near the edge of the Irish village. The manager, a middle-aged man with a double chin, red cheeks, and round stomach, looked from me to Allen with a questioning look. "Isn't she a bit young for you, sir?" he asked.

My eyes grew wide. "Wha-? No, it's not like that at all! We're just friends."

The fat manager shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't allow minors to room with adults unless they have proof of family relations or business. I'll get you two separate rooms, and that's the best I can do. A rule's a rule," he explained.

I scowled. "That's a bull shit rule; we're only friends, okay? Besides, we are here on business. Show him the papers from the director."

Allen looked up to me with wide eyes and pouting lips. "Uh... I left the file in my uniform pocket," he said shakily.

"Allen..." I whispered soft enough for the manager not to hear.

"You should have been here a few months ago when the rule didn't exist," the manager grumbled.

My friend blinked twice. "What happened a few months back? What was the reason for the rule?" he asked.

The manager let out a sad sigh. "A strange fellow moved into these parts about four months ago. He seemed nice enough at first, ya' know, helping out in the community and even teaching at the school," he began slowly, "but then he got all... weird. Every weekend he would bring a student to the dining area to tutor them, and then the two of them would disappear into the rooms. The next morning he would come down to report to school, and the girl is nowhere to be found. This happened three times before the missing persons reports started coming in. The manager here before was imprisoned and the school teacher was executed in the city square. Those girls were never found, and there was no evidence of them being here."

I raised my brow. "That makes it seem like the case is over and done with. Is there something else we should know?"

"Yeah... even after the death of the school teacher, more girls are disappearing."

Both Allen and I were shocked. "From this inn? You're the manager, though!" Allen stated. I saw his fist beggining to clench tightly.

The manager shook his head. "No, I am very strict about the rules. No one comes in here that I don't know about." Then he pulled out a map of the town from his front desk, pointing to another building. "This is the place. It's an abandoned house on the edge of the village, though people... a man and young women, have gone inside. Only the man has come out, but no one knows who he is. The one time we were able to stop him, he just vanished into thin air."

Allen took the map and studied it. "We need to go there," he said, turning to me.

"You will not go there!"

We stared blankly to the manager, our eyes wide and confused. "Sir?" Allen questioned.

"You're only kids; grown men have gone in there to see what happened to those girls, and every one of them has fallen sick or ended up dead! Something is wrong in there," he warned, his squinty eyes narrowing further and his lips tightly drawn. "I won't allow you two young ones to go in a place like that."

I leaned forward on the desk a confident smile growing on my face. "No need to worry, old man. You see, we can handle anything; we're Exorcists."


	3. The Taken

Allen and I stood arguing with the manager for almost half an hour. 'You don't look like Exorcists' or 'How can you be involved? You're only kids!' The same load of bull shit each and every time. In the end, we gave up and rented two rooms (ya know, I'm an adult and Allen's girlish side is a minor...)

"I come by and lock the doors at ten!" the manager called after us as we made our way to our rooms.

"Damn," I sighed, "this is more like a camp than a hotel..."

Allen held up the sides of his dress, letting out a remorseful sigh. "I won't be able to sleep tonight," he muttered quietly. "How does Komui-san think I can sleep in this poofy dress?"

"Just learn to sleep standing or something." I heard Allen give a disgruntled growl and looked down to see that his head drooped and his feet had begun to drag on the floor. He even began to swoon some. "A-allen?"

"My feet hurt... my ankles feel like they're going to snap in half... this dress itches... I wanna eat, but this dress is really tight on me, and I can't eat anything that makes me gain weight..." he grumbled.

"You can just work it off, can't you?" I asked bluntly.

Allen looked up to me with a blank stare. "Do you think I can work out in this thing?" he asked in return.

I shook my head and sighed. "Just... forget what I said, 'kay?"

We went silent for a little while, the only sounds passing between us being our breaths and footsteps thudding on the old wooden floors. Allen paused before his door as I walked on to my own. "Oi, Lavi. That thing at the abandoned house... do you think it has anything to do with akuma?"

Turning to him, I said, "Maybe. That man the manager was talking about seems suspicious, but I do have a question about this whole thing: was the man in the first story brought back from the dead to finish his dirty work or is this some kinda accomplice... a wannabe?"

Allen shrugged. "Who knows? We can find out more about it tomorrow morning." Then he paused, smiling gently and tilting his head slightly. "Good night, Lavi."

With my hand on the door knob, I turned my head towards my friend and smiled back. "You too, Allen."

But it wasn't a good night. Almost two hours after Allen and I said good night, I was still lying awake on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. So many questions were running through my head, so many answers that Allen and I would have to come up with in a short amount of time for the sake of the village. My mind wandered back to the conversation with the manager, looking for anything that we may have missed. I even went so far as to ask myself questions I've already asked myself.

_"Was the man in the first story brought back from the dead to finish his dirty work or is this some kinda accomplice... a wannabe?"_

How the hell were we supposed to know that? With everything I have encountered as an Exorcist, as well as a Bookman, anything and everything could be possible. Here, in the world we lived in, physics did not apply. Neither did pure logic. As far as I knew, this whole thing could be way over our heads. But I couldn't let that get to us. We had to go to that house, tomorrow morning as the sun rises. For now, I needed sleep.

_Sleep. Damn Lavi, why does your mind wander so? Why can't you just sleep this one off?_

"Because," I whispered to myself as I felt my eyes glaze over and deep sleep come upon me, "my friend might very well be the next victim..."

o.O

I was startled awake by the sound of glass breaking out in the hallway. Lying still, I listened for any sound that may penetrate the silence; there was nothing. What was going on? Pushing back the sheets and stumbling out of bed, I tiptoed quietly to the door, the wood floor cold against my bare feet. I cracked the door open enough to peek out in the hall, but it was empty. Why hadn't Allen gotten up to see what the sound might have been? He should be the first one out here. Scanning the hall, I saw that Allen's door was slightly ajar. Strange, the manager came by last night to lock the doors; either Allen was already out and about... or someone was in his room. "Allen..."

With my hand resting on the hammer strapped to my side, I crossed the hall to peek in my friend's room. I was petrified at the sight of a large shadow hovering over Allen as he slept. "Allen, why aren't you wakin' up?" I whispered to myself.

"Your girl won't be waking up for a while," a voice said behind me.

I turned just in time for a swift blow under my sternum, sending me against the wall and crumbling to the floor. Through dizzy vision I could make out the manager of the inn. "B-bastard... you were in on this... the whole time?!"

The manager didn't say anything, but threw the door wide open and threw himself into the room, yelling, "I won't let you get away from me this time!"

All air had left me as I tried to push myself up to my feet again, but it was futile. Damn, for a fat guy, he had an incredible punch. I fell over in front of the doorway on all fours and peered into the room. That shadow... what the hell was that thing?! "A-Allen!"

My shouts went unheard; it was almost as if my friend was dead to the world, stuck in some form of comatose. But his eyes were open. Staring up at the wall, unmoving. Was he dead? No, that wasn't right. He was sleeping.

"Oh, you poor little brat."

I looked up at the sound of the voice, but nothing was there. "Is this some sorta trick?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Tell me, do you fear an enemy whether or not you can see them?"

A rhetorical question. How stupid; this was not the time to be asking me dumb questions. "I don't give a shit if I see them or not! Now tell me what the hell is going on!"

The shadow. It had to be that. Was it an akuma? Or was it something else? How was I to know? Damn it... if only I knew.

"There's no reason for you to know what I am, Bookman. For now, don't get in my way."

That's when the shadow began to hover closer to Allen, encasing him completely in black. I felt anger rise up in my chest and finally pushed myself up and drew my Innocence from its strap. "You're going nowhere!" I shouted. "Ban. Ban. BAN!"

With my Innocence at its full potential, I took one good swing at the shadow, nearly taking out a wall with it. The blackness separated for mere seconds before enclosing around Allen again. "What? It... didn't work?"

"Dumbass. How do you expect to attack something that's not tangible? Later, baka."

And then it was gone, Allen too. I ran to the bed, roughing up the sheets as if looking for something that I lost. "Allen! Allen! Shit, man! How could we have let that happen so easily?! Shit. SHIT! Allen, where the hell did you go?! ALLEN!"


	4. The Paintings

I still couldn't believe what was going on. My best friend went missing right before my eyes, and I was rendered useless against a stupid shadow. Sitting on the edge of the bed with my fists clenched tightly on my knees, I began to panic. What the hell should I do now? Where was Allen taken? How was I going to find him and get him back? So many questions were running through my mind, causing me to have a raging headache and bad attitude. "Shit..." I mumbled as I lowered my head. "That thing... what was its goal?"

"To take your girl."

Looking up at the voice, I saw the manager crawl out from the wood planks that was once a wall. Just the sight of him angered me. Within split seconds, I had stomped over to him, yanked all three hundred pounds of him off the floor and shoved him against the wall. "What the hell were you thinking?! If you hadn't had punched me, Allen wouldn't have been taken!" I shouted in his face. "Dammit, now you've made me all pissed!"

The manager looked blankly back at me, his mouth agape. "Your girl... was actually a guy?"

I felt my eye twitch at his question. "That's a long story, but it's not the point! If you hadn't had punch me in the gut, he might not have been taken! Fuck! What the hell did you hit me for?! I'm an Exorcist, so let me do my job!"

He was silent for a long while, lowering his head and closing his eyes. I was shocked, quite frankly, when I saw the tears roll down his chubby cheeks. "I don't know what I was thinking... you see... my grand daughter... she was taken two weeks ago, and no one has heard from her since. That thing that took your friend... took my precious little girl..."

As the sobs began to overwhelm him, I released my grip and let him fall to his knees. I began to understand, finally. "So... you just wanted to see your granddaughter again, huh? You want to get her back?" I asked quietly.

The man looked up to me, his face contorted in anguish. "Anything... anything to get my granddaughter back. She's the only thing I have left... Her parents were killed in a fire a year ago, and ever since she's been here with me. When I saw you with the miss down stairs, I purposely separated you two, thinking that if that monster came here to take her, I would for sure get him. But... I didn't... I couldn't save my granddaughter..."

Kneeling down, I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. As ridiculous as he looks in a dress, Allen can defend himself and anyone else he may encounter. If we don't get there to defeat that thing, he would have by then."

"You... you really think so?"

"... I know so."

I was outside in front of the creepy building the manager had told us about. There were several signs all over the front door, saying 'Caution' or 'Stay Out'. I liked the one that said 'Trespassers will be shot'. Well, I was trespassing, and I sure as hell wasn't getting shot quite yet. "This place looks like something from some haunted movie or something... it kinda gives me the creeps..." I muttered to myself as I approached the door. I peered through the cracks in the old rotted wood and managed to catch a glimpse of the inside of the house; it was really dark, and from what little I could see, there were no furniture or signs of life in there. "Man... these people have poor taste..."

After jiggling the knob, I found that the door was locked. "Damn... I should have borrowed a hair pin or something from Lenalee... wait..." I paused, thinking hard over what I had said. "That's it! Lenalee! That's the password! Komui-san... you're such an idiot..."

Taking a step back, I raised my foot and kicked at the old wood until it finally broke, which, quite honestly, I wasn't ready for. My leg went sailing through the door until the splintered wood reached my knee. "S-shit! That frickin' hurt like hell!" I shouted as I attempted to pull my foot out of the door. So much for the noble rescue...

When I found that the door wasn't going to give my leg back so easily, I shoved my entire weight through the barrier until the door broke altogether and I went sprawling flat on my face. "Damn... why can't I think straight?" I mumbled as I pushed myself up and dusted the wood chips and dust from my uniform. With the moonlight behind me, I could actually see the inside of the house. Along the long hallway before me were old crooked shelves filled with dust and spider webs. The red carpet that covered the stair case was old and faded beyond the point of red, and the pictures that lines the walls were either dusty or broken. I wiped away the dust from one of the portraits; it was that of a young woman, dressed in nineteenth century clothing. Her eyes stared back hauntingly, dead. And was it just my imagination, or was her skin actually a pale grey?

"Creeeeepy..." I muttered as I back away from the picture and moved on down the hall. I couldn't help but have the sinking feeling that her dead eyes were watching me.

The kitchen was the same as the front entry way: dark, dusty, and creepy. Old kitchen knives, rusted over from age and disuse, lined along the wall near the stove. Nearing the water faucet, I grinned; you would think that a house this old would be covered in dust and spider webs, but the sink was clean, almost shiny. "So... someone used the sink recently."

Turning away from the kitchen and making my way back down the hallway to the front door, I began to notice that the pictures looked different, and the broken door that was on the floor when I left had now been put back in its original place. The stair case was gone, too. "What the hell is going on? Did I make a wrong turn or something?" I asked myself as I retraced my steps. "I'm sure I'm goin' the right way..."

That's when I heard it; the screams. My breath hitched as I went frozen at the sound of them. The high pitched noise pierced through my ear drums and sent chills down my spine. I knew that scream... I've heard it too many times to count. "A-allen?" My legs began to move on their own; before I realized it, I was sprinting down the halls towards the sound. "Allen! I'm coming, just hang on!" I shouted. The door at the end of the hall crumbled to my hammer, the wood planks and splinters flying everywhere. "Allen, I-"

But it wasn't Allen. Sitting on the bed before me was a little doll made to look like Allen. Cautiously, I picked it up and looked over it. The dress. The white pigtails. Even the red scar over the left eye. It was definitely made by the enemy to taunt me. My grip tightened around the doll's plush body as my teeth bore in rage. "What the hell is this shit? Are you taunting me now? Where the hell is Allen, you bastard?!" I yelled as I threw the doll against the wall. "Shit... I don't have any time for this..."

"Lavi."

My heart skipped a beat at the sound of my name. I turned back towards the doll, which lay crumpled against the wall. I stormed over to it, picking it up roughly by the head. "What the hell do you want? You're only a doll with Allen's voice recorded in it."

"Lavi. You have to survive the maze inside this house."

"... maze?" Was that why the halls were different before?

"You have twelve hours to find me, Lavi. If you don't find me by then, then it's bye bye!"

My lips curled back in disgust. "You... you think you can torment me by holding my friend captive? There's no way in hell you're going to do anything to him! I'll find him before the twelve hours is up, and then I'm gonna kill ya, ya hear?!"

"Lavi... save me..."

My breathing hitched. "Wha...t?"

"Lavi, please save me... If you don't... in twelve hours, I'll become...

... one of those paintings..."


	5. The Doll

Twelve hours? A painting? What exactly was the Allen doll trying to tell me? I knew the paintings in the hall way looked creepy at first, but then my mind started to wonder about what this whole thing could be. What kind of sick person ran this fun house, anyway? It couldn't have been anyone we've encountered before, let alone a demon that's been here for a long while. No, this was fairly new. Even the Bookman wouldn't have this recorded in the books.

"Lavi, why are you waiting?"

That's right; I was still holding the limp Allen doll in my hand. "I'm thinking, so shut it," I hissed.

"Lavi, why are you being mean to me? I'm your friend."

"No you're not; you're just a little toy that looks and sounds like my friend. If you were my true friend, you'd know the password."

"Pass...word?"

I snickered as I stuffed the doll in my coat pocket. "That's right, I know the password, and you don't. How 'bout them taters?"

"Lavi, you're not making any sense."

"Well, neither are you. Now kindly shut up and let me concentrate."

I walked down the halls in silence, the little Allen doll bobbing up and down in my pocket. The toy umbrella it carried in its hand kept poking me roughly in the chest. "Oi, you mind putting that thing away?" I said at one point. "It's pissing me off."

"I'm just a doll, Lavi. I can't do anything about it."

Pausing in my footsteps, I readjusted the doll so the umbrella wasn't in the way. "Annoying little prick..." I muttered to myself.

The doll remained motionless as it said, "Lavi, why do you still carry me around with you? I'm just a doll."

I bit the inside of my cheek as I thought up an answer. "Because I know the enemy made you and you might have some answers for me," I replied before continuing on down the hall. Damn, this hallway seemed much wider than usual. Were the walls shifting again?

"Is it because you miss your friend? You miss having her here beside you?"

"... for your information, my friend is a guy, not a girl."

The doll let out a little shocked gasp. "Really? Then the Master..."

I narrowed my eyes as I took the doll from my pocket and dangled it in front of me. "So that's what he's called? The Master? Exactly what does he do to his victims? Why does he go after girls?" I questioned, giving the doll a hard stare.

"The Master feeds on the souls of young women; just like how Krowry feeds on only the blood of demons, the Master prefers young women to males. When he finds out I'm really a boy... who knows what might happen?"

My eyes widened at the mention of Krowry. "You... how do you know all this stuff about me and Allen?" I asked, a slight threat in my tone.

"I was made from your friend's memories."

"And yet the whole password thing didn't fit in there? Nor the whole guy thing?"

"I only possess what your friend holds most dear."

I nodded in understanding; now that I was able to piece it all together, it made sense to me. Then I chuckled lightly to myself. "I can't believe I'm talking to a doll..." I muttered.

"Lavi, you only have twelve hours."

"Hai, hai, I know. Everything's just now startin' to make sense to me, so let me do things my way," I stated as I placed the doll back in my pocket and patted it lightly on the head. "You know, Allen kinda looks cute as a doll."

I finally came to the end of the hallway and walked into a large dining room. A long table, probably twice the length of those at Headquarter's Cafeteria, stood before a marble fireplace. Aside from the dust and cobwebs, the table looked ready for dinner; several candlesticks, tall and burning, stood in the middle of the table, and at each chair was a set of silverware and plates; now all that were missing was the food and the guests. Walking over to the fireplace, I wiped my finger along the inside. "It's been cleaned recently," I commented as I looked at my clean fingertip. "Any particular reason?"

"I don't know; I'm just a doll..."

"Yeah, I know," I said before kicking out the side of the fireplace; the marble, obviously fake, was weak to my foot.

"Lavi! You can't go around kicking things down!" the little doll exclaimed.

"So what?" I retaliated. "I have to do what I can to find you, right?"

The hole I made in the fireplace was wide enough for a human to fit through. Getting down on my knees, I crawled through the opening only to find myself rolling heads over heels down a smooth metal ramp. I yelled as the doll and I went tumbling downwards into the darkness, all while I reached out for a hold of any kind, but I ended up cutting open my finger tips against the cold metal. The Allen doll let out a little squeal in fear as we continued our way down into the lower levels of the house. I reached for my hammer and held it up above my head. "Ban. Ban. BAN!"

My Innocence grew and collided with the round barrier keeping us trapped on the slide, bringing us to a slow stop. Just in time, too. My legs dangled out in front of me into nothingness. "Whew..." I sighed. "That was way too close for comfort." I looked down to the Allen doll and smiled weakly. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." it replied."Thanks, Lavi."

Looking up, I growled, "Now, how the hell are we gonna get out of here?" I felt the little doll in my pocket begin to move, and before I knew it, it had slipped out of my pocket and began to fall into the darkness.

"Lavi!"

I bared my teeth. "Aw, shit!" I muttered as I reached down to catch it by the umbrella, but not before my hammer had wedged itself loose and we both fell. Though, we didn't fall as far as I had expected. A mere three feet and face plant later, we were safely on the ground. No really, ground. I had a good amount of soil in my face and mouth from the fall. Pulling myself up quickly and dusting my face off, I let out a whining moan. "Why does shit like this always happen to me??" Then I glared at the little doll. "This is all your fault."

The doll couldn't look more innocent, though it couldn't form expressions at all. "Me? You're the one who loosened your grip to catch me!" it recoiled.

I closed my eyes and let it fall to the ground. "Idiot, if you hadn't had fallen, there would have been no need to catch you."

For some reason, I thought I saw the familiar Allen scowl form on the doll's face. "If you had been smart and not fallen in the fireplace, we wouldn't be here," it chuckled.

"OI!" My foot drove the little thing into the ground. "Don't try to be all badass on me; you're still in a dress! And you look like a girl! How does that feel, huh? Are there any memories of me beating you to a pulp in there as well??"

"L-lav...i..."

I paused at the hurt tone in the doll's voice; removing my foot, I saw that I had pushed the thing a foot into the soft earth. It looked so pitiful. My friend looked so damn pitiful. "I'm sorry, Allen. Damn, you're still a fuckin' doll..."

As I bent to pick up the dirtied doll, a shadow formed above me. "I wouldn't be doing that to my creation, if I were you," a vaguely familiar voice said.


	6. The Yellow Eyes

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

That voice... I've heard it before not a few hours ago. It was the thing that kidnapped Allen. I quickly snatched up the Allen doll from the soft dirt and took a leaping step forward, twisting my body to face the enemy. "You bastard," I hissed through gritted teeth. "Since when do you have the right to tell me what to do, eh? I'm the one callin' the shots here."

The thing's deep chuckling seemed to surround me, echoing against the old brick walls and ceiling. "I'm only telling you this for the girl's benefit," came the reply.

_Idiot... for the last time, he's not a she..._

I stuffed the doll back in my pocket and held out my Innocence. "We're ending this right here, right now. If you don't tell me where to find my friend, I'll beat the livin' shot outa ya till you do," I threatened.

From the shadow two eyes appeared, wide and yellow like a cat's eyes. "Don't you remember? Your attacks won't work on me."

I gritted my teeth as it said this. "You have to have some tangible form if people have seen you walk in and out of this damn place," I snarled. The shadow moved in closer, the two yellow eyes becoming three, then six, then God knows how many. I took a step back in disgust. "Holy fuck!" I attempted to swing my hammed at the thing as it got closer and closer, but it wouldn't budge. Strange, holding a hammer two times the width of your body in the air and it won't move. Did the monster set some kinda spell on it or something?

"My tangible form?" the thing taunted. "I've always been tangible; you have just failed to hit me."

The doll let out a frightened whimper. "Lavi..."

I let go of the hammer's handle and barely dodged in time before the monster struck out at me. As I stumbled in the darkness, something caught around my leg and sent me tumbling into the dirt. The little Allen doll fell out of my pocket and rolled to a stop just before the yellow eyes. "Shit!" I reached out for the doll, my only chance of finding my friend, but invisible cords held me down.

The shadow let out a cackling laugh as it held up the frightened doll. "When I said I was warning you for your girl's benefit, I don't think you took me seriously. You see, this doll is more or less like a voodoo doll; whenever you do something to it, the same things happen to your friend. See?"

The doll turned sideways as it was dangled by the left arm by invisible hands.

Left arm. The Crowned Clown... Allen's Innocence...

"Please," I pleaded. "Don't do that; you gave me twelve hours. You're breaking the rules!"

"Do you think I really care about that?" the monster asked as if tugged and pulled on the arm. "Your friend is an Exorcist, isn't she? Her Innocence is in her left arm, right?"

"LAVI!"

I remembered that scream; I remembered the first time I heard it while watching Timcanpy's memory of Allen getting his arm ripped off by the Noah Tyki. If that happened again, there was no way that Allen's Innocence would return. "Stop it! Please!"

But it was already too late. The sound of seams and fabric ripping reverberated in my ears as the doll's left arm was pulled from its body. My eyes went wide at the thought of the real Allen screaming like that, lying in a pool of his own blood with his left arm lying out beside him. I clenched my eyes shut and tried to forget that image, but it wouldn't go away.

"You annoy me. Do you really think I was going to let you find your girl that easily?" the monster asked as it dropped the doll and its detached arm.

"You bastard! I'm gonna rip your fuckin' face off!"

The yellow eyes hovered above my struggling self and what felt like a large tazor buried itself deep into the back of my neck. My limbs went numb and I suddenly felt drowsy. "What... the hell did you do... to me?" I asked as I slipped in and out of consciousness.

"Worm," came the response as the eyes turned away.

I fought so desperately against sleep, forcing my eyes open and my head up. "Come back here... I'm not... done with you... yet..."

My head finally came to rest on the soft dirt and my eyes glazed over with sleep. The doll, as it lay motionless three feet ahead of me, was one of the saddest things I had seen, partly because I knew what really happened. My friend had his Innocence destroyed because of me.

"Al...len... I'm so... sorr...y"

"Lavi..."

My eyes slowly opened at the sound of Allen's voice. I was on my back, facing the ceiling. Turning my head stiffly, I saw the doll lying on the ground, staring back at me. "I'm... alive?" I muttered. Sitting up took more energy than I thought it would. "God," I mumbled as I felt the two marks on the back of my neck, "I feel like I'm gonna hurl..." As I stood, the dizzying affect of the 'sleepies' sent me stumbling into the wall. When I looked up, I was staring eye to eye with the nineteenth century painting of the girl with dead eyes.

Wait... the painting? Wasn't that near the beginning of this whole horror story? Looking behind me, I was taken aback at the sight of the broken door and red carpeted stairs. I truly was at the beginning again. "Shit! That damn bastard's making me start all over again! Shit! Fuck it! I'm gonna rip his fuckin' head off and shove it up his ass!"

I couldn't control my anger; slamming my fists into the wall or kicking at random objects that stood in my way seemed to be the only satisfying way to vet. But when I turned and saw the doll's sad eyes staring back up at me, the guilt kicked in. I sank to my knees, letting my arms drop like deadweights to the cold wood floor. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked weakly.

The doll was slow to respond. "About four hours."

That left only eight hours to go... that's enough time, right? No... I felt for my Innocence and found it missing from the strap on my leg. "That bastard kept it..." I muttered to myself.

Picking up the doll, I carefully dusted it off and placed it in my coat pocket. "Come on, we need to find that fireplace."

"But lavi," the doll whimpered, "that thing's down there."

"... That's why we need to go back..."


	7. The Kiss

I don't know how long we wandered around the old house; maybe two hours? Either way, I was wasting precious time. Several times I stumbled into the same rooms, and several more times I found myself at the beginning again. The more wrong turns I made, the more frustrated I got, which meant the more mistakes I made. At one point, I sat on the red carpeted stairs for the hundredth time, staring up at the painting of the girl with dead eyes. "Hey," I said softly, "do you think I'll be able to find you in time?"

The doll let out a sad little sigh. "I don't know... I don't have much time left."

"How much time do you have left?"

"... About three hours..."

_Shit... I was walking aimlessly around that long? Damn... I needed to find Allen. Who knew what might happen to him once that monster found out that Allen was in fact NOT a she..._

I stared with lazy eyes at the painting, studying it. "You know... I wish she could tell us something... I'm guessing she's one of his first victims," I said to myself. I stood before the picture, staring back into those cold dead eyes. This girl... she was here a while back, I could tell. Did the monster claim her soul long ago? It couldn't have been, since girls only started disappearing four months ago. My simple Bookman mind wasn't making the connection. "Damn," I sighed, "I'm getting nowhere fast." I crossed my arms and leaned back against the wall. Little did I know that I hit the wall too hard, for seconds later, the painting came crashing to the floor. "Jesus Christ!" I screamed as I jumped back from the shattering glass.

"Lavi, look!"

I looked down to the doll, expecting for it to point to somewhere, but it was a doll after all. "Look where? When you don't tell me, I just assume you're pointing somewhere in your mind."

The doll let out a little huff. "The wall, Lavi! Look at the wall!"

Where the painting once hung was now a square opening, a hidden passage. I peered inside the dark passageway, saying, "Well, lookie here! Does this lead anywhere?"

"Don't ask me," the doll stated.

I bent to pick up the broken painting and set it against the wall. A weak smile spread my thin lips. "Thank you," I whispered before climbing into the dark passageway. It was a tight fit, but once on my hands and knees, I easily crawled my way through the narrow passage. Every once in a while, I came to a fork in the road, but it was easy to tell which way had been used recently.

After what seemed like forever of crawling, I came to a dead end, a screen that kept me barred inside. "There's a light down there," I muttered as I peered down into the room. "I can't see much. Hey, if I lowered you down, could you tell me what you see?"

"Yeah," the doll replied.

I carefully pulled out the doll from my pocket and managed to push it and my hand through an opening in the screen. The doll gasped. "There's people down there!"

"What do they look like? Do you see yourself?" I asked.

"No. They're the missing girls," came the reply.

_The other girls were alive? Then where was Allen? Why wasn't he with them?_

I pulled the doll back and bit my bottom lip. "We need to get down there," I said to myself. Turning my body in that tight space proved to be difficult; I got stuck at one point with one leg bent behind me, one leg splayed out in front, and my head banged against the ceiling while my arms and shoulders wedged in between the narrow walls. "This isn't... workin'," I grumbled as I strained my shoulders back.

Finally, I managed to lean back comfortably and kick down the screen door. The screen crashed loudly to the floor, echoing down the hall and in the room. Pushing myself out of the narrow passageway, I found myself standing amongst four or five motionless girls strewn about the small room. I knelt down beside one, softly shaking her. "Hey, are you okay? I'm here to help you."

"Don't bother," a weak voice said. "She's dead."

I looked up at the voice and saw one of the girls staring back at me with sad eyes. She looked familiar. Taking out the picture the manager gave me a while back, I realized that this girl was his granddaughter. "You're alive!" I sputtered in shock. "You've been missing for two weeks!"

The girl's eyes closed. "Has it really been that long? I lost track of how long I've been here."

"Are you the only one left?"

"... yes..."

Leaving the dead girl's side, I came to the manager's granddaughter, saying, "Your grandfather sent me and my friend to find you; we're gonna take you home as soon as we get outta here."

The girl sniffled. "Your friend? Does she have white hair?"

Pulling out the Allen doll, I asked, "Does she look like this?"

"Yes; the Master brought her by. She's being kept in the next room," the girl replied.

_Good... so I'm close by..._

"She doesn't have much time left; the Master is going to take her soul soon," the girl stated gravely.

I shook my head. "No it won't. My friend... _he_ won't die any time soon."

The girl's eyes widened. "He? Why was he wearing a dress?"

I didn't want to explain the whole thing, so I said, "It was a disguise. Can you walk?"

She shook her head.

Patting her on the head, I said, "Could you sit here for a little while longer? I promise I'll come back to get you."

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I can wait."

"What's your name?"

A weak smile spread on her dirty face. "Alana," she replied.

I smiled back as I roughed up her hair. "Alana, don't forget to keep smiling, 'kay?"

Then I stood, facing the door leading to where Allen was held. With one swift kick, the door went flying open, leading to another hall that opened into a huge room. There, strapped to a chair in the center of said room, was Allen. His head fell forward on his chest and the fake pigtails he wore fell before his face. Beside the chair was an art easel, a sketch already started on the white paper.

"Allen!" I cried as I ran to his side. Then I realized something that made my heart leap: his left arm was still attached. "So, that bastard was bluffing..." I quickly untied Allen and set him on the ground; he was still fast asleep. "How do I wake him up?" I asked of the doll as I knelt beside my friend.

"The Master poisoned me with a sleeping solution," the doll replied. "There's only one thing you can do."

"And that is?"

"... you have to kiss me..."

My eye twitched as my mouth hung open in shock. "Ah, _hell _no," I blurted. "Do you know what kissing another guy can do to one's dignity?"

"Do you wanna same me or not?"

"I do, but I ain't kissin' ya!"

The doll huffed in frustration. "Fine, I'll just go die now and cease to exist."

"... Alright! Jeez, you don't have to guilt trip me, you little bastard."

I pulled Allen closer to me, tilting his head back and pushing strands of white hair from his face. Then I stopped, staring at his pale lips, slightly opened as if waiting for me. I bit my bottom lip as I tried to convince myself that my friend was truly a girl, but a small voice in the back of my mind kept flashing the word **'GAY'** in bright bold thoughts.

"No one else will know or hear of this, right?" I asked the doll.

"No one will know."

I looked back down at Allen, saying, "Well, Sleeping Beauty, here's your frickin' kiss." Closing my eyes to blot out the thought of kissing a guy, I bent my head down and pressed my lips to Allen's. He tasted sweet, sweeter than any girl I've kissed before. Which is odd, because I've kissed a lot of girls. When I pulled away, I half expected for cameras and recorders to come out and loads of people yell out 'Surprise!', but nothing happened. Allen didn't even stir awake. I grabbed the doll, saying, "You told me this would work!"

"It should! Try again!"

As I leaned down to give it another go, Allen's eyes opened. I froze mere centimeters from his face, my lips still forming a slight pucker. "Lavi? What the hell are you doing?"

I sat up quickly, wiping my lips with the back of my hand. "Wakin' your sorry ass up," I replied, "now get up. We have a date with the bastard that lives in this creepy place."

Allen sat up with an angry expression on his face. "I can't believe you kissed me," he growled.

I rolled my eyes. "It was for the greater good, so shut up."

Before we could even begin to argue out the 'greater good', a shadow loomed over us and a voice that was disgustingly familiar to me hissed, "My, what a lovely reunion we have here."


	8. The Poison

Allen and I looked up in time to see a massive being come down upon us. I pushed my friend out of the way before the huge body of a spider crushed us both, but it was in vain. Tight cords wrapped around my legs and dragged me along the dirt floor. Allen reached out for my hand, but we missed each other's fingers by mere inches. I reached down for my hammer only to remember that it was gone; there was no way I could fight against this thing.

I was hung upside down before the many yellow eyes, and the fangs of the spider snapped at me. "GAH! Allen, get me down!" I shouted as I thrashed about in midair.

"Can't you fight, Lavi? Where's your Innocence?" Allen shouted back.

"I lost it!"

The fangs got closer and closer while I got more and more freaked out by the second. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Allen jump up, activating his Innocence and slashing out at the fat belly of the spider. With a shriek, the monster dropped me and twisted around to attack Allen. I landed with a thud from a good twenty to thirty feet up, knocking the wind from my lungs. By the time I caught my breath and stood, Allen went flying into the wall after a blow from one of the spider's many legs. "Allen!" I shouted as I ran his direction.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Long thick bug legs blocked my path as the spider loomed above me. My heart stopped as the sudden realization hit me: not only could I not fight; I was utterly defenseless. Allen appeared from the dust and rubble, holding his clawed hand high. "Lavi, get out of here!" he yelled, taking a slash at the monster.

About this time was when we realized how much it sucked to fight an enemy with more than two arms. The spider pinned Allen to the wall with two legs while throwing me into the wall with another. "You found your girl, sir. I congratulate you. Now the question is can you keep her?"

I bared my teeth as I wiped the away the blood that began to trickle down the side of my face. "Shut your face! At least I can keep my girls unlike you!" I shouted back.

"I'm glad you see me as something worth keeping..." Allen mumbled. Then he gripped his left wrist tightly, pulling out the blade that immersed from his arm. "Leave this to me, Lavi. Get the girls and get out of here!"

The spider shrieked loudly as Allen sliced through a leg; my opportunity to run was wide open. So I did. I bolted across the wide room, but before I reached the doorway, I heard Allen yell with a loud thud following. Skidding to a halt and whirling around, my eyes widened at the sight of my friend wrapped in thick white threads, his arms now utterly useless. My fists clenched tightly as I watched the monster crushing my friend against the wall with one of its now seven legs. Picking up the chair that Allen had been tied to earlier, I reared back before slamming it into the spider's large body. "Hey! I'm the one you've been toying with this whole time! I'm your opponent!" I yelled as I threw the chair again into the spider's side until it snapped in half. Now holding only a splintered leg, I ran under the spider and thrust the wood plank into its but. Green goo spewed from the wound and splattered all over my arms and face. Utterly disgusted by the green blood, I released my grip on the chair leg and fell back onto my knees, letting the gaping wound take its affect.

Though what I got wasn't exactly what I expected. A swift, sharp pain exploded in the back of my neck as something like a needle pushed its way in. My limbs felt as if they were on fire, but as I tried to pull away from the pain, I found that I couldn't move. Warm white foam filled my mouth and spewed out from behind my lips; my heart began to pound hard against my chest and my mind went numb with darkness and ice cold sensations. Allen's eyes widened as his brows creased in a mixture of anger and grief. "LAVI!"

What had happened? Everything, for the most part, seemed to be under control. When did I let this get out of hand?

"Al...len..."

I felt warm blood run down the back of my neck as I fell forward, every part of me suddenly going numb. Everything became a blur for a while, all sounds, sights, and movements. I knew deep down that Allen must be all sorts of pissed now and that he was fighting to now not only save the manager's daughter, but me as well. And all I could do was lay there. So, this whole entire mission, I was completely useless.

_I'm sorry Jijii... Lenalee... Yu... Allen... I'm sorry if I was a burden as an Exorcist and a friend. I'm sorry if I was never any help... _

After what seemed like an eternity of lying there, I saw Allen's blurred form collapse beside me. His hands were warm to the touch as he pulled me up and shook me lightly. "Come on, Lavi," he stated desperately. "I can't have another friend die on me, especially you. We came on this mission together, and that's how we're going to leave: together."

A shiver trembled down my spine as Allen's tears fell on my face. I wanted to say that it was going to be okay, that it was all an act and stuff. But I couldn't. Now, I wasn't even sure of myself. This was such an easy mission, and yet it caused me to have the most trouble. Why was that, I wonder? Was it because I depended on Allen to be there to help out? If so, I was never meant to be an Exorcist, let alone a Bookman. Somehow, I realized that I was never meant to be alone. There was always someone there, whether it be Allen or Lenalee, Jijii or Yu. This time, though, I was alone. I was never meant to be the knight in shining armor coming to rescue the princess.

"Allen," I barely managed to whisper. "Take the girl and leave."

Allen's brow furrowed. "I'm not leaving you here, idiot! I'm taking you with me!" he sobbed.

I managed to smile weakly. "I know the password..."

His brows rose. "Password?"

"For the dress... it's 'Lenalee'..."

Allen wiped away the tears that streamed down his cheeks. "It was really... that easy?" he asked.

"... yeah, that easy..."

With a somber look on his face, Allen pulled off my headband and wiped away the blood, sweat, and froth from my face. "Thanks..." he whispered.

"... thanks for what...?"

He leaned down, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. "For my kiss..."

"... I thought you were... angry about that..."

"Nah, I could never be angry at you."

"Hey... in my pocket, there's a doll... I want you... to give it to that girl..."

Allen reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the doll. A soft smile spread on his face as he looked over it. "It's me." Then he pulled out something from his dress pocket; the left arm that had been torn from the doll. "I found this during the fight; the akuma must have put it in there while I was unconscious."

The doll looked so at home in Allen's hands. "Yeah, I'm you," the doll sniffled.

"It talks!"

"Yeah... it led me here... so, in a way... you really did help me..."

My friend clung tightly to the doll, saying, "Yeah, I'll give it to her."

I closed my eyes, the warm feeling of Allen's hands finally going ice cold. "Thanks, kid... I guess I'll see you... on the other side..."

Allen shook me lightly. "Lavi. Come on, wake up. Lavi!...

LAVI!"


	9. The Truth

I woke up to bright light and loud voices echoing in my head. Sitting at my side was a familiar face, as blurred as he was. Turning my head slightly, I said, "Hey, why the sad face?"

Allen looked up at the sound of my voice. "L-lavi! You're awake!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I said as I managed to push myself up into a sitting position. "What'd I miss?"

"Everything."

"Ah, com'on, you can't be serious! I missed the Apocalypse?"

"BAKA!"

A small figure jumped up at the end of my bed and before I knew it, a fist rammed into the back of my head. "uaaaahhh...." I muttered as I fell back down in the bed.

I heard Allen gasp. "Bookman-san! He just woke up, so don't hit him like that!" he breathed.

"Yeah, Panda-man, I'm still kinda dead here..." I said in agreement.

My grandfather snickered as he crossed his arms. "I can't believe you went off and lost your Innocence. On top of that, you almost got yourself killed! I thought I taught you better than that."

"But, Bookman-san, we got the Innocence back, and Lavi didn't die," Allen stated.

Instead of accepting the hard facts, my grandfather huffed and turned to leave. "The director wants to see you when you've fully awakened."

I sighed as I sat up again, a little more painfully this time. "Jijii..." I mumbled. "So, wait, you found my Innocence?"

"Yeah," Allen replied. "On my way out, I got lost in the house and found it tied up in spider webs."

"Did you get the girl home?"

He nodded. "Yeah, and I got the dress off too, though I didn't expect for it to explode as soon as I typed in the code."

I raised a brow. "I'm not surprised; it's Komui-san."

My friend scratched his head, saying, "You do have a point there..."

"Hey, about that kiss," I said as I turned my head away.

"Yeah?"

"... it didn't really mean anything..."

"I know."

"So, just to establish the fact that I'm not gay, and you're not gay..."

"Lavi, it's fine," my friend interrupted. "I understand." Then he took something out of his coat pocket, placing it in my hands. It was the Allen doll.

I blinked down at it for a while, noticing that the left arm had been carefully sewn back on. "I thought you gave this to the manager's granddaughter."

"I did," Allen said. "It arrived this morning with a note saying to give it to you."

Picking up the doll, I smiled. "Hey, are you still in there?"

"Lavi! You're awake," the little thing replied.

"Yeah, I'm awake. And you looked fixed up," I said in return.

"Yep!"

I set it on the bedside table as I slid out of bed and pulled on a shirt. "You know, this has got to be the weirdest mission we've ever been on," I said.

Allen nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and it didn't help that I was in a dress and you had attempted to act straight."

My eyes narrowed. "I thought we established this already..." I growled.

"Come on," my friend interrupted again as he took my arm, "we need to see Komui-san."

I followed Allen to the director's office, rubbing the back of my neck. Two blisters were there, though I didn't know if they were from the first or second time the monster tagged me. We arrived at Komui's office to a regular sight; the director was seated at his desk with a mug of steaming hot coffee in his hand and a smug grin on his face. "So, I see the mission went well," he stated as we walked in.

"Yeah, if you call me getting captured and Lavi almost dying going well," Allen replied sarcastically.

Komui stood, taking a couple of papers from his desk. "Well, I will have to say that from my point of view, it was rather successful."

Allen and I both stared back at the director in awkward silence. "Successful? In what way?" I asked carefully.

The director showed us the contents of the papers; there printed in bold colors, was a shot of me kissing Allen. "My methods worked!" he exclaimed.

About that time Lenalee walked in behind us. "Nii-san, you called me?" she asked.

While I held Komui's arms behind him, Allen snatched the photos away and hid them behind his back. "Oh, Lenalee, you're here too?" he asked with a nervous chuckle.

Lenalee's brow rose. "What's going on here?"

"I have blackmail! And I'm not afraid to use it!" Komui shouted as he struggled against me.

"Shaddup! You ain't usin' it while we're alive and kickin'!" I shouted back.

"Allen-kun, what do you have behind your back?" Lenalee questioned as she made her way over to him.

"Nothing! I swear!"

With a swift punch to the face, Allen fell against the couch and Lenalee grabbed the photos from his grip. Her face went pink with either embarrassment or arousement; either way, I hoped to God it was the first. "Lavi, you kissed Allen-kun?" she asked, turning to me.

I released my hold on Komui and held up my hands. "L-let me explain, it's really not what it looks like," I stuttered.

"No," Lenalee interrupted. "I don't want to hear it."

Allen massaged the side of his face as he sat back in the couch. "Komui-san, out of curiosity, how did you get these photos?"

Komui grinned. "The doll! The science department made it; it came with a camera."

My eyes widened. "So... it really wasn't his soul?" I asked in shock.

"No silly," Komui said as he waved his hand gaily at me. "We took a recording of Allen's voice so whenever you asked it a question, we could respond and sound like Allen here."

"... this whole thing... was a set up?"

Komui nodded. "Yeah, we just didn't expect there to be an actual akuma."

Allen and I stormed at Komui. "WE'RE GONNA KILL YOU!!!!!"


End file.
